Added 9 October 2026
churl
/tʃɜːl/ noun
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about churl at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A free peasant (as opposed to a serf) of the lowest rank, below an earl and a thane; a freeman; also , a person without royal or noble status; a commoner. A bondman or serf.
- A free peasant (as opposed to a serf) of the lowest rank, below an earl and a thane; a freeman; also , a person without royal or noble status; a commoner.
- A bondman or serf.
Origin
Inherited from West Midland Middle English churle (“person not of the nobility or clergy; serf, servant, simpleton, fellow”, East Midland Middle English cherl), from Old English ċeorl (“freeman ranking below a þegn but above a thrall; commoner, peasant; countryman, husbandman; man; husband”), from Proto-West Germanic *kerl, from Proto-Germanic *karilaz (“elder; man”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂- (“to grow old; to mature”). Doublet of carl /carle, ceorl, and karl. Sense 2.1 (“rough, surly, ill-bred person”) is probably an extension of sense 1 (“free peasant of the lowest rank; person without royal or noble status; bondman, serf”) and sense 2.2 (“countryman, peasant, rustic”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)